One of the greatest rivalries that the WWE had back in the Attitude Era was the home run that was the Mr. McMahon vs Stone Cold Steve Austin rivalry. It transcended wrestling in so many ways because it was the blue collar champion vs the white collar crime committers. Stone Cold was the guy that everyone wished they could be because who didn’t want to deliver a stone cold stunner to their boss? Well, the rivalry kept heating up especially after the fact that Mr. McMahon eliminated the rattlesnake to win the Royal Rumble in 1999. After relinquishing his spot in WrestleMania, Austin was the next in line, but he would put everything on the line at the St. Valentine’s Day Massacred In Your House PPV inside of a steel cage (The old blue steel cage, but in black this time). Mr. McMahon promised Stone Cold that no member of the Corporation would be present at ringside, but that may have been a mistake on his part. At first Mr. McMahon wouldn’t enter the cage making Austin chase him around the ring. When Austin was on the outside, McMahon was being preventative of Austin getting into the cage so Austin pretended that when he landed on the floor that he tweaked his knee.

This immediately suckered McMahon to the outside where Austin would start opening that can of whoop ass. He literally started to beat Mr. McMahon all over the arena whether in the crowd or around the ring. McMahon was reeling from the beating, this could be the biggest mistake he has made. Then McMahon started to climb the cage and Austin followed, but when they got near the top of the cage, Austin slammed his head so hard into it McMahon went flying off it and into the Spanish announce table. Austin would eventually continue the assault in the ring until an unexpected visitor came bursting out of the ring who was technically not a member of the corporation in The Big Show. The Big Show tried to assault Austin by throwing him against the cage, but when he did, the cage fell apart and Austin landed and hit the floor to win the match. This was as good as you could get out of this amazing rivalry between the two that defined the attitude era.

Today is Easter Sunday so I figured I would incorporate a little bit of the spirit of the day with a special match that took place 11 years ago. There was an angle going that had Mr. McMahon constantly testing Shawn Michaels and his strong faith and beliefs in God. Remember, nothing is safe in your life when it comes to Vince McMahon and a strong story line. So, Vince and Shane challenged Shawn Michaels to a no holds barred tag team match, but the only problem is that Shawn couldn’t choose anyone to be his partner other than God and the fight would happen at Backlash 2006. Vince was starting to insult Shawn and his religious background when Shawn decided to get things started by socking him right in the mouth. He took care of Shane with some rights and a backbody drop and then he launched himself over the ropes and on to Vince with a crossbody. He would then launch himself over the ropes on the other side in a moonsault on to Shane McMahon. Shawn continued his assault on Shane all the way up the ramp where eventually Mr. McMahon would join in on the fun. After slamming Shane into the Backlash staging, he launched himself at Mr. McMahon with a crossbody right into the staging area below.

It looked like Shawn was going to be in control of the match, but as soon as he climbed up the stairs back to the ramp, he was nailed with the chair by Shane McMahon which busted him right open. Shane began senselessly beating Shawn from the top of the ramp all the way back to ringside. Things looked bleak for Shawn as Shane just kept chipping away at the then future hall of famer. At one point, it looked like Shawn was going to retake the advantage, but Shane squashed that with a big DDT. Vince was begging to get in the ring so Shane made the tag only to see Vince take off his belt. He started whipping Shawn like a government mule repeatedly. After he was done with that, he grabbed a metal trash barrel from Shane and he nailed Shawn with it keeping him on the mat and helpless. Vince would then resort to grabbing a microphone and he began patronizing Shawn by calling out to God asking him, “Where are you going God?” Then he would boldly state, “God has left the building!”

The big mistake was that Mr. McMahon gave Shawn time to recoup while he was going through this spiel that when he attempted Shawn’s own move the superkick, Shawn caught his foot and started attacking Mr. McMahon. After hitting Vince with a running forearm, he kicks himself up to his feet only to dodge a running Shane who has a chair in hand that hits his dad with it by accident. With Vince down, Shawn begins to work on Shane as he hits him with a flying forearm, followed by the kick up, an atomic drop, a bodyslam, and finally a flying elbow. Shawn was feeling it as he tuned up the band and nailed both McMahons with a superkick (not at the same time). Instead of just covering one of the McMahons, Shawn decided to grab two ladders (to set them up on) and a ladder. Shawn climbed the ladder, but instead of jumping off to the McMahons, he jumped on The Spirit Squad who had just arrived ringside. Before you knew it, the Spirit Squad took care of Shawn Michaels and hit him with the high spirits through a table. That allowed Mr. McMahon to ultimately make the pin and steal the win from Shawn. Hey, don’t forget to like our page on Facebook at Facebook.com/MRXPUNCHOUT and while you are it why don’t you follow us on Twitter too.

I know what you are thinking and what you are thinking is why didn’t he wait to cover a match with Stone Cold Steve Austin for tomorrow when it’s Austin 3:16 day? While that is a great observation that you’ve made, unfortunately Stone Cold Steve Austin did not wrestle at WrestleMania 2000 (WM 16 if you’re keeping track) so I thought I would cover a match with him for today. One of the greatest WrestleMania rivalries that I can remember from the Attitude Era was definitely the feud that Austin had with The Rock who was a corporate puppet at this point in his career. Stone Cold meanwhile had been feuding with his greatest rival ever Mr. McMahon who had won the Royal Rumble, but lost in a steel cage the next month at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre which in turn made Austin the number one contender. To make things a little harder for the Texas rattlesnake, it was announced that Mr. McMahon was the special guest referee for the match. It looked as if there were insurmountable odds stacked against him right from the start. Then all of a sudden, Shawn Michael’s music hit the speakers and the commissioner made his way down to ringside. He basically told Vince that he couldn’t be special guest referee and that the corporation was bared from ringside as well.

The match was no DQ and it started almost immediately as The Rock wouldn’t allow Austin to the corner, so Austin started it by landing some punches, but The Rock took the first advantage throwing Austin over the ropes to the outside. The exchange would eventually change as Austin returned the favor throwing the Rock over the top rope taking the fight into the stands. They literally beat the hell out of each other all over the arena delivering back body drops on top of a light structure, choking each other with camera wires, and Austin throwing The Rock right into the camera crane. They’d eventually make it back to the ring, but not exactly inside of it as Austin drove an elbow to the chest of the Rock on top of the Spanish announce table that broke it immediately. Austin and The Rock were there to brutalize each other until one of them could no longer stand anymore. The Rock though wasn’t completely out of the match as he would capitalize on something that happened earlier in the match.

Earlier in the match, The Rock delivered a backbody drop to Austin that some his knee hit the steel of a light structure that was near the ramp. As soon as they were back in the ring, the Rock rolled out and grabbed Austin by the legs and drove his knee right into the steel post. The only problem is that he couldn’t hold the advantage as he was driven into the steel steps on the outside by Austin. Austin was the same way because as soon as he went back in the ring, The Rock gave him a rock bottom, but Austin would kick out. The Rock would grab a chair to use on Austin, but Austin quickly took that away from him. As soon as Austin tried to use the chair, The Rock used referee Mike Chioda as a shield. The Rock was now in full control of the match as he beat away at Austin’s knee with the chair. After some devastating shots with the chair and a Samoan drop, The Rock was frustrated because Austin wouldn’t give up so he gave the second referee Tim White the rock bottom.

Frustration was setting in for The Rock who was doing everything right, but he just couldn’t get the rattlesnake to quit. As soon as The Rock turned around, Austin hit him with the stone cold stunner, but there was no referee. Eventually, Earl Hebner would make his way to ringside, but The Rock kicked out at two. Austin would go to the outside where he’s grab a chair, but as soon as he was doing that, Mr. McMahon made his way down to ringside and provided enough of a distraction for The Rock to hit Austin with a low blow. McMahon would make his way inside the ring where he’d hit Earl Hebner before he helped The Rock attack Austin. If things couldn’t get more out of hand, Mick Foley made his way down to ringside with his referee shirt and he’d attack McMahon. After a few exchanges, The Rock would once again hit Austin with the Rock Bottom, but he opted to deliver the people’s elbow instead of a pin attempt. As soon as he tried to drop it, Austin would move out of the way and he would deliver the Stone Cold Stunner which was all she wrote as Austin was your new WWF Champion. Hey, don’t forget to like our page on Facebook at Facebook.com/MRXPUNCHOUT and follow us on Twitter too.

We are continuing to pay tribute here at Mr. X’s Punch Out to all the amazing African Americans that have stepped foot into the squared circle for Black History Month and today is the last entry. The last superstar that we are covering for this is the current kingpin over at TNA Impact Wrestling in Bobby Lashley. Not too many people realize that at one time, Bobby Lashley made an impact in the WWE the mid to late 2000’s when he burst on the scene. After beating the Big Show on an episode of ECW to become the ECW Heavyweight Champion, he would later drop it to Mr. McMahon due to the help of Umaga and Shane McMahon. At the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for WWE One Night Stand, he would face Mr. McMahon in a street fight for the ECW Championship, but once again Mr. McMahon had both Umaga and Shane McMahon in his corner. As the match started, he was starring down both of the McMahons, but he decided that it was a better option to take out the big man Umaga with a botched moonsault over the ropes that definitely hurt Lashley.

Despite that, Lashley began dominating the match and it looked like he was going to handle the disadvantage of three against one very well, but like all else the numbers game eventually catches up to you. As he went to powerslam Mr. McMahon on the steel chair in the center of the ring, Umaga made the save and Shane DDT’d him on top of the chair. The numbers game was just too much for Lashley as they brutalized him inside and outside of the ring with the three on one assault. Things looked absolutely hopeless for the young man responsible for Mr. McMahon having a shaved head. After choking him with the camera wire, they threw him back in the ring and into Umaga who delivered a punishing Samoan drop, but when McMahon went for the cover, Lashley kicked out at two. Eventually Bobby found his opportunity to strike when Umaga went for the big splash and landed on Mr. McMahon after Lashley moved away.

He cleaned house and then hit Mr. McMahon several times with the chair before nailing him with the dominator. The only problem is on the pin attempt, Umaga pulled him to the outside from the ring. There Umaga would hit him with a superkick followed by a big splash and then he set Lashley up on the ECW announcers table where he then was the victim of an elbow by Shane McMahon as the table collapsed. Even after that, Lashley would kick out on the pin attempt and a frustrated Umaga would continue to work on him hitting a Samoan Wrecking Ball. After Shane would have Umaga hold a trash can against the corner for a coast to coast dropkick, but as soon as he went for it, Lashley moved out of the way. Lashley would proceed to deliver a spear to Shane and then one to the Boss as he covered him after for the 1-2-3. Bobby Lashley was once again ECW World Champion.